Sakura's Fighter
by Garrarg
Summary: Shortly after turning all the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards, when they think everything is peaceful now, a man with an overwhelmingly strong magic presence appears and wants to take the Clow cards, and Syaorans and Sakuras magic! T for future chapters.R&R!
1. The Wild Man

Note: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura the tv series, movies, mangas or anything else, they belong to CLAMP. This specific story is mine and no one elses though.

I haven't watched the tv series or the movies so this is writtin only with the knowledge and materials you can gain from reading the manga.

The cold autumn winds blew shrilly through the streets of Tomeda, browned leaves swirling and dust snaking across the roads and sidewalks. People that walked the concrete paths wore jackets, gloves and scarves to keep the driving cold away. Winter would arrive soon, and it looked to be a cold one. It was morning and the sun was shrouded in thick gray clouds. The grass in front of the houses was covored in dusty white frost, windows also beared frost and puddles from a recent rainfall were frozen over. A man walking alone surveyed the cold around him, his dark brown eyes darting form side to side; he focused on one thing for less than a second before looking at something else, and they showed a cunning mind behind them. His face had squarish features, his shoulders and limbs looked oversized for his large frame, and his shoulder-length red-brown hair was thick and wild. He looked like a lion in man's shape. His stride was full of confidence and arrogence, he looked down on people (He was six feet tall so he literally looked down on most) like they were lesser beings and would smirk to some some private joke he had.

His long strides took him to the front of a school and he stopped. He stood as still as the buildings itself, with only his messy mane and long black coat moving with the wind. An hour passed, then another, and another; and he still he stood, waiting. People walked by him and he payed no attention to them, watching the doors of the school with a strong intensity in his eye. Right before midday came, the clouds parted like a rip, tearing open to reveal the pale sun and the brilliant blue sky that contrasted with the browns and grays of Tomedas autumn. The doors of the school opened and and a mob of children exited happily. They all looked to be ages ten to eleven, and they quckly split up into groups and sat on the few benches of the schoolyard to eat their lunch, or ran to the playground. They laughed and chattered happily, with not a care in the world.

Well, all except two had not a care in the world. One was a girl with light brown hair that caught the sunlight with a shine, and green eyes that were quite brilliant and expressive. She looked ahead of her, her eyes unfocused and her face worried. She sat down beside a girl with long black hair, who leaned in towards her and whispered something. They started talking quetly and the man standing still turned his attention to the only other child that caught his attention. It was a boy who was now sitting in a tree, his hair was brown and short and his eyes the colour of amber. He had quite a serious expression and watched the green-eyed girl with worry. Then he turned and stared at the wild-looking man as if he sensed he was being watched. The man smiled and walked to the part of the fence closest to the tree; where he stopped and continuesd to look at the boy, who was now closer.

"What do you want?" The boy asked, stepping onto a branch closer to the strange man.

"Your name." He said with a deep voice that sounded almost like a growl. It was full of a false friendliness that didn't fool the boy one bit.

"Li Syaoran. And yours?"

"Call me Avarice, Li." The boys eyes were aflame with distrust, curiosity, worry and apprehension

And with that, the wild man called Avarice walked away abruptly. Syoaran sat in the tree, motionless.

"Who was that Syoaran-kun?" The girl with green eyes had walked up to under his tree and looked at him with worry.

"Avarice." Syaoran replied, still watching the man walk away and turn a corner. He was so tall and wild he was hard to lose sight of.

"He's the magic we sensed isn't he?"

"Yes, Sakura."

A couple days ago they had both sensed an alarmingly poweful magic presence enter Tomeda, but niether could tell where it came from or if was a person or not. All the Clow cards were captured and are now Sakura cards, so it couldn't be them. Eriol didn't even make such a strong magic presence, and he was in England anyways. Both the children looked more worried now. Sakura thought he looked like he was holding in some pent-up energy and aura of fiery emotion exuded from him with such force it was hard to focus on anything else. He looked, and felt dangrous in some way. He might cause some kind of trouble, and the emotions he displayed in his aura were not good ones; contempt, arrogance, dislike bordering on hate, and greed. Sakuras thoughts were interrupted by the girl with long black hair.

"Was he. . .?" The girl, Tomoyo started but trailed off at the sight of their somber expressions.

"Yes." Sakura and Syaoran said together.

The rest of their school day passed without anything out of the ordinary happening, not even out of the ordniary by their standards.

Syaoran waited by the schools doors, his classmates walked by and a couple gave a wave on their way out, but he was waiting for someone and didn't notice them. Through the crowd he spotted Sakura and Tomoyo and fell in stride beside Sakura. She smiled at him happily, she seemed to forget about her worries for now. That was Sakura, always happy and cheerful and not one to dwell on gloomy things. They got to the front of the school, and Tomoyo waved goodbye and ran to a shiny black car that was waiting, a woman in a black suit opened the door for her and she crawled in. The car started and left the school parking lot quickly.

"I'll walk you home." Syaoran said after Tomoyo's car was out of sight.

"Isn't that the wrong way for your hosue though?" Sakura said. She

"I'll walk you home." He repeated and Sakura just nodded and smiled, and they set off.

Syaoran pulled his jacket closer against the cold wind. He didn't like the cold, he much prefered the heat of summer. Sakura didn't seem to mind, but the again she was used to living in a four season country. Li Syaoran had been here for nearly a year now, and much has happened. He came here to find the Clow Cards and bring them back to his family in China, but Sakura was the one chosen to be the Mistress of the Cards. He was suposed to go home soon, but he dreaded it. He had failed his mission, and his family would react quite poorly. So he was biding his time, saying he wanted to wait for the end of the school year before returnign home. He also had yet to confess to Sakura, and if weren't for that powerful magic presence he would have by now. But now they had something else to worry about; what did Avarice want? He seemed hardly likely to want to be friends or anythng of the like, and he seemed to be looking for something.

"Syaoran!" Sakura stopped and exclaimed. A second later Syaoran sensed the same poweful aura of Avarice, and he whirled around to see him barely ten feet away. How had he not sensed it sooner?

"Hello again, children." Avarice said with all his former attempts at friendliness gone. His face was serious and his eyes focused on Sakura.

"What do you want?" Syaoran said after a pause in which they regarded each other carefully. Avaraice smiled and took a couple steps foreward. Syaoran stepped back and stood in front of Sakura with his arms outstretched a bit.

"I want something she has, and you wont stop me, brat!" Avarice barely raised his deep voice but it sound as loud as a lions roar. His eyes seemed to light up with fire and he stepped ever closer. Syaoran kept back off and stayed in front of Sakura.

"What could I have that you want?" Sakura said, keeping her voice strong but it was laced with worry.

"The Clow Cards, and your magic." Avarice grinned evilly when he saw their expressions of surprise. "And if you wont give them to me, I'll take them by force!" He started chanting quickly in english. Sakura couldn't understand it but Syoaran knew some enlish and he could tell that Avarice was going to release some kind of magic on them. The wind whipped around him and made his black coat and his red wild hair flap around.

"He's releasing a wind spirit!" Syaoran said to Sakura and pulled from his pocket a paper about four inches wide and seven inches long, it was covered in Chinese symbols. Saukura pulled the key that was around her neck off and started her own chant.

Avarice was done his chant and a gale so strong it blew the children off their feet screeched through the street. Avarice gestured with his arm at them and the wind kicked up and threw both of them in the air. Syaroan let a fire spell loose but the tall man swept it away with his wind. Syaoran landed on the pavement on his feet, and Sakura fell beside him but lost her footing. He helped her up as quick as he could but another blast of wind sent them to their feet. Avarice laughed loudly and started another chant. The wind swirled around and picked up Syaoran, but Sakura grabbed onto him and brought him back down.

"Give me your magic and I wont hurt you!" Avarice shouted and flung his arms upwards, to the sky. Flames sprang up around him in a circle and a small fireball formed between his outstretched hands and started to grow. The wind threw Syaoran and Sakura to the ground every time they got up, rendering them unable to do anything.

"We need to stop that wind!" Syaoran shouted, the wind screemed so loud Sakura could barely hear him. She quickly released the key and in a flash of light it became a long pink staff with a winged star on the end. She pulled a card from one of her pockets.

"Watery, become the chains that bind and quench the flames, release!" She shouted and water exploded from the card and formed a liquid image of a woman. She smiled and a stream rushed through the air towards the flaming circle around the tall wild man. The wind whipped around faster and into a cyclone, water was thrown in every direction and didn't even come near the flames and Avarice. Syaoran used another paper and sent his own water at the fire, and Watery mixed with it. The form of the woman became more defined and the stream that followed her swelled, she rushed at Avarice.

"FOOLS!" Avarice shouted and threw the fireball, which was now as big as three basketballs together, at Watery. She disapeared instantly and the water fell to the ground and evaporated or got swept away by the wind. With apparant ease he had defeated a clow card, and he still had more to do. He waved his arms around and commanded the wind and fire in english. The flames seperated and became fist-sized fireballs that the wind flung around at high speeds. Syaoran dodged them easily, and pushed or pulled Sakura out of the path of the flames; more fire apeared in the hands of magician and he threw them at the children. They were all aimed at Sakura.

"Jump!" She shouted and the jump card was released, little winges formed on her feet and she leaped fifteen feet in the air and avoided all the flames. The wind whirled up at her and she lost control of her jump. She screemed as she was flung around like a small leaf in a storm. Syaoran rushed at Avarice, who was watching Sakura with a little smirk. He didn't notice the boy until he leaped over his ring of fire, but his reflexes were fast. He grabbed the front of Syaorans jacket and spun around, slamming him into the ground. But this caused a temporary lapse in concentration that Sakura used. She released both Sword and Shiled cards, her staff beoming a long thing sword with a winged hilt and in her left hand a large shiled made of a furled metal wing apeared. She fell out of the sky towards Avarice with sword raised and used her shield to block the fireballs still being tossed by the gale.

"You'd make a good Fighter Syao-" Avarice was saying to Syaoran, but he didn't get to finish. Sakura cut through his invisible shield and landed beside him, sword raised.

"Let him go!" She said with confidence, a determined look on her face, her green eyes angry.

"Hah! Or what?" Avraice stood up, he turned Syaoran around and held onto his neck with one hand the front of his jacket with the other. Syaraon was a foot off the gorund and the top of his head didn't even reach Avarice' chest. He gasped for air and clutched at the hand on his throat.

"I don't think you could attack me with that sword, you couldn't possibly hurt another person no matter what they did. And you might hurt little Li here. . ." Avarice smiled. No one moved and the wind died down, the flames subsided.

"I haven't even used a fraction of my power. . ." Avarice said and threw Syaoran at Sakura, they collided and hit the gorund. "I'm having fun playing with you, I'll let you keep your cards and your magic for a while longer. You wont even have a chance to defeat me unless you get a Fighter!" The wind screamed and swirled around him and pushed Syaoran and Sakura into the ground. Then the wind vanished and Avarice was no where to be seen.

"S-sorry" Syaoran said and got off of Sakura and helped her up. Her wings disapeared, the sword became the staff again and the shiled vanished. They both had bruises and were covered in dust and dirt from the wind, and parts of Syaorans clothes were burnt. There was also a small cut uner his eye, and his neck was bruised.

"He was so strong. . .how could he do that to Watery?" Sakura said, returning the staff into the key and slumping down onto the ground. Syaoran sat beside her, but said nothing.

"And that wasn't his full power he said." She put her head in her hands. "What will we do?"

"Sakura. . ." Syaoran said slowly, his eyes filled with worry and deep thought "Whatever we do, we can't let him take the Sakura Cards, or our magic. We'll find a way right?"

"Can someone even steal magic?"

"Yes, steal, give, destroy. It all depends on if your strong enough to do it, and he is. But we'll be alright"

Sakura smiled at him and nodded.

"I'll try to find out what a 'Fighter' is" Syaoran said.

"I'll ask Kero-chan." She stood up and they finished their walk to Sakuras house. She looked at him and smiled again, and told him to be careful. He nodded and waited for her to close the door to her house before leaving. He sighed as he walked. Was there never going to be peace in Tomeda?


	2. Dance of Danger

(Garrarg: _if anyone who's reading this is wondering why Sakura dosen't use many different cards, is that I've only read the manga and in the manga there are only 19 cards as oposed to the 52 in the tv series. I've not watched the series, so everything is based off of the japanese manga. And thanks very much to Vampire-to-B for adding this! I am very happy, you are my first confirmed reader!_)

Li Syaoran stood waiting in front of the school, almost in exactly the same spot Avarice stood yesterday. He was at school early, waiting for Sakura impatiently, wondering if Kerberus had known anything about what a 'Fighter' was. The cold wind blew around him and he shivered, but not becuase of the wind. The wind Avarice manipulated yesterday had left him with a strang chilling sadness, as if the gale itself was feeling sorrow. That, along with the chant the magician used led Syaoran to believe that the wind was a captured spirit being forced to do what Avarice wanted. And the fire spirit he used had only a dull sense of anger, but also some strange happiness. It must have been a particularily malovent being that enjoyed causing havoc or pain, and therefore wasn't that resentful at being used by the wild man.

"Syaoran-kun!" Syaoran turned to see Sakura running towards him. She seemed to have decided to come to school early as well. She stopped in front of him, out of breath.

"Did you run here?" Syaoran asked.

"Y-yeah." She caught her breath, and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interupted by the arrival of two students from thier class who ran up to her. They started saying something about a school event excitedly, completely oblivious to Syaoran. Sakura smiled at him and mouthed the words "at lunch" at him. He nodded and made his way into the school. He wondered how important a Fighter was to make her run here earlier than normal. . .Surely another twenty minutes to arrive at her normal time would have been soon enough?

Another cold gust hit Syaoran, but this wind carried a deep sadness with it. He felt the powerful presence of a magician and looked up. The wild-looking man stood on top of the school, his messy mane of red hair and his black coat flapping in his conjured wind. He smiled down at Syaoran, and with a small wave the wind whipped around and blew dust in the boy's eyes. He blinked it away and Avarice was gone, with no trace of his magical aura or his wind. Syaoran looked back at Sakura, she was starring at the spot the magician was standing a moment ago, her two friends still talking to her non-stop. Now the wild man was playing mind games with them, toying with them.

The hours before lunch passed slowly, as things always do when waiting for something important. Syaoran sat behind Sakura, fieghning interest in what the teacher was saying. He just wanted the classes to end and the lunchbell to ring. Every now and then, Sakura turned around and gave him a small smile, as if to tell him to not worry and be patient. He relaxed every time she smiled at him, and it eased his tension a bit. He could actually focus on what the teacher was saying, and realized he missed something important about a test. He sighed and continued taking notes. Syaoran was absorbed in the lesson when he heard the bell, but it wasnt the lunch bell. It was the loud klaxon of the fire alarm, ringing loud and clear throughout the school. Some of his classmates screemed and started to panic.

"Stay calm! Don't worry, just grab your stuff quickly and calmly and follow me!" The teacher raised his voice only a little bit, and order was restored. Syaoran huridly collected up his books and went to Sakuras side and stuck by her like glue. Tomoyo was on her other side, and together they filed out the classroom behind the teacher with the other students. Down the hall they could see the other class's following their teachers the same way.

"Why aren't the sprinklers on?" Tomoyo whispered to Sakura and Syaoran.

"I have a bad feeling about this. . ." Sakura said. Syaoran just nodded. It couldn't have been a cioncidence that Avarice had showed himself just hours before, and now there was a fire.

"Attention all students and teachers!" The speakers in the ceiling crackled to life, the voice of the principal carrying through the halls. "This is not a drill, The front doors of the school are blocked by fire and everyone must exit through the nearest emergency doors! Please remain calm!"

"Okay everyone this way!" One of the teachers lead the crowd through the halls towards the gym, which was the nearest exit. Syaoran held onto Sakuras hand tightly, and she held onto Tomoyo and they made their way through. They were right behind the leading teacher when he opened the doors to the gym. Smoke filled the room and flames licked at the back walls, where the exit was. They danced and swirled in strange ways, and spread alarmingly quickly across the floor towards them. The teacher slammed the doors shut.

"This exit's blocked, do not open this door and move quickly by it please!" He shouted to the crowd behind him and everyone gave the doors a wide berth.

"How many emergency exits are there?" Sakura whipsered to Syaoran worridly.

"Just one more in the cafeteria." Syaoran said glumly.

"This is because of him isn't it? You could feel it too, the fires emotion. . ."

Syaoran nodded.

The crowd quickly made it to the doors to the cafeteria, and once they were open the teacher held the door wide. There were no flames or smoke, and the emergency door was clearly safe. The students rushed to it and left the burning school quickly. Some gave sighs of relief, others just ran faster. In the rush, no one seemed to notice a tall man walking against the stream of bodies. Syaoran noticed and pointed out to Sakura, they both recognized the tall wild figure of Avarice. Everyone he went past didn't even pay head to him, and those he brushed against seemed to not feel it. It was as if he wasn't there. He looked at Syaoran and Sakura, smiled, and kept going.

"We've got to stop him." Sakura said. Syaoran nodded again and started after the magician, still keeping a tight hold on Sakura. She told Tomoyo to leave and not worry, and hurried to Syaoran's side. They slipped into a vacant classroom and waited for the crowd of fleeing people to pass. The footsteps faded and the voices of their fellow students subsided. Once they were the only souls in sight, they ran out from the classroom and into the hall.

"This way, his aura!" Sakura said. Syaoran could sense it too, but not as strongly as she did. They ran as fast as they could without tripping and followed the wild mans ever strengthening aura to the doors of the gym. They paused for a moment and shared a look. Avarice had defeated them easily before, and now he set the school on fire. They would have to give it their all, and failing at this could be worse than what they've had to face before. Syaoran nodded to Sakura and she gave a small but determined smile, and he opened the doors.

Black smoke obscured the ceiling, the air was unbearably hot, the far wall and half the floor were covered in joyous dancing flames of red and orange. And standing in the flames was the ominous form of Avarice, still and silent. Syaoran stood in front of Sakura, and she immediatly released her key into the staff. Avarice smiled and strode twoards them, the fire followed in his wake. He stopped ten freet in front of the children, they regarded him and kept their ground.

"Your defiance is admirable. . .Shall we play now?" He snapped his fingers, and fire danced in his large hand.

"Watery!" Sakura shouted. The symbol of her star covered the ground around her and water rushed around it. The figure of Watery apeared, and she looked angry. Sakura gestured with her staff and the stream rushed at Avarice. The wild man leaped upwards with tremendous speed and threw in quick succesion a swarm of fireballs. Watery made a hissing noise as it hit her, turning much of her stream into steam.

"Light!" Sakura said, and Syaoran covered his eyes just in time. A brilliant flash filled the burning room and Avarice was blinded for a short time. Sakura gestured and Watery rushed at him. Her figure glided across the gym floor, with her stream strengthened and swirling around her in rage. She collided with Avarice, sending him crashing down and across the floor into the wall. Sakura and Syaoran both smiled at bit, but their small vicotry was short lived. A wall of fire swept up Avarice and Watery, and the liquid disapeared into a cloud of steam. He defeated watery again.

"Ha! Nice try with the light there, maybe I should get a little more serious?" The roaring of the fire seemed almost quiet compared to Avarice's booming voice. He walked out of the wall of fire slowly, a malovent grin on his large face, his dark eyes lit up by the fire in an eery way. He looked happy in a very disturbing way.

"Isn't he your Fighter yet? Command him and give me a real challange or hand over your magic now to save me time." The wild man said and waited for her reply. Syaoran looked at Sakura and she gave him a worried look.

"Too slow!" Avarice shouted and fire encircled him. They could hear through the roaring of flames he started chanting.

"What do we do now?" Syaoran asked quickly. "We need to deal with his fire before anything else!" As he said that, there was a loud crackling followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. A beam from the ceiling, which was now covered in flames, had fallen and crushed the benches on the far wall. Thick smoke filled the room, and it was starting to get hard to breath. The air was getting hotter and hotter, and his lungs felt like they were getting cooked.

"Shadow! Hide us from sight!" Sakura released the Shadow card, and immediatly they and most of the floor was engulfed in a black shadow as dark as void.

"Drown them!" They could hear Avarice shout, and a large rushing stream of raging water blasted through his flames, and into the shadows. There was so much water that being hidden didn't help, Syaoran shoved Sakura out of the way and got swept away by the stream and thrown into a wall. The water encircled him and held him down, drowning him as Avarice commanded.

"Syaoran!" Sakura shouted. "Let him go! WINDY!" She released Windy with all her might, all her heart trying to free Syaoran. The resulting wind was so strong, it blew away the water and swept around and knocked Avarice over.

"Fly!" She shouted and large feathered wings sprang from her back. She ran to Syaoran, who wasn't moving. Avarice got up quickly and aimed a pillar of angry red flames at her.

"Shield!" An invisible barrier surrounded her and Syaoran, the flames were averted but barely. The shield almost faded, and now Avarice was readying more fire to throw at them. Sakura held onto Syaoran as tight as she could, and released watery once more. It blasted a hole in the ceiling, which was now starting to collapse.

"Cowards!" Avarice shouted, Sakura took flight straight up as fast as she could. She flew through the hot air, the suffocating black smoke, out of the jagged hole in the ceiling and into the cloudy sky and fresh air. She flew higher and higher above the school, carrying Syaoran. The air was cold and clear, and the school below was in flames. Most of the building was engulfed, and the students and teachers were nowhere to be seen. Fire truckes and frantic firemen rushed to put out the flames, but they seemed to make no headway at all. The flames danced and roared, taunting them. Sakura was about to release watery, to do anything to help, but then she saw the large dark figure of her enemy wxit the building and walk off the school grounds with slow but long strides. Almost the moment he left the grounds, the fires weakened and the firemen got them under control swiftly. Sakura stayed hovering in one spot long enough to make sure that Avarice had left the school for sure and she flew towards the ground. She needed to land but how could she do that and not be seen? Syaoran might need medical attention fast. She agonized over it for a moment hen an idea came to mind.

"Shield! Please, hide us from view! Shield us from the eyes of all nearby!" She released Shield, and it did exactly what she wanted. A bubble formed around her and if anyone were to look in their direction they would see nothng but cloudy gray sky. She landed near the firemen, and her wings vanished. They became visible at the same time the staff turned back into the key. Sakura felt drained from releasing so many cards in quick order, and carrying Syaoran. She still held onto him, even when things went blurry. After calling for help faintly, one of the firemen turned and started running for them, and Sakura fainted.

Syaoran woke up slowly, very slowly. First, he was aware of his aching body. It felt like he was just one big bruise, and moving was worse. He could hear faint voices, like people were talking in another room. He opened his eyes and saw Sakuras face hovering above him. She looked worried but smiled when his eyes met hers.

"How are you feeling?" She asked quietly. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed he was lying in, which had a soft pink blanket and white sheets. He looked around, and saw the off-white yellow walls and slanted ceiling of Sakura's room. He sat up quickly, his muscles protesting as he did. He groaned.

"Why am I in your room?" He asked, as quietly as she had.

"I got my brother to take you here. . .He was at the school, the teacher noticed us missing."

"You got us away. . .How?"

"I flew us out. Don't worry no one saw us." She smiled at him. He relaxed a bit, and got out of her bed and stood up. He was quite sore, but otherwise fine.

"So. . .whats a Fighter?" He asked slowly and sat back onto the bed. Sakura moved from the chair to the bed beside him, and she was silent for a moment before beginning.

"Well. . .A Fighter is usually a friend or someone close to a magician, and the magician uses his magic on them to make them stronger. A Fighter can be imbued with five things, whatever those things are. Like five spells, or five spirits, or five cards, or five elementals. A Fighter would be just like a normal person until the magician called upon them to fight after giving them five magical properties. The Fighter would then fight the magicians battles for him, and be stronger than if the magician were to just use his spells."

Syaoran said nothing, absorbing this information. So, Avarice expected him to be Sakura's Fighter? To be empowered by five cards, become strong and fight him. It sounded dangerous.

"And," Sakura continued after a moment, "once the magician gives five magics to his Fighter, they can't use those five magics unless they remove them from the Fighter. The stronger the bond between the magican and Fighter, the stronger the Fighter is. And once a Fighter is in a battle, the magician can't get hurt by an enemy magician, only the Figher can. The magician would command the Fighter, because when following a command the Fighter will be faster, stronger, better at it than if he acted on his own free will in the magician does more than just command though, they use their energy to keep the Fighter going and also shield the Fighter's mind if the enemy uses mental attacks." She fell silent again.

"Kerberos told you this?" Syaoran asked slowly.

"Yes, he said that a Fighter, no matter how strong the bond, would make us strong enough to maybe beat Avarice. He also said that if we hadn't escaped when we did, Avarice might have. . ." She trailed off, but she didn't need to complete her sentence. Syaoran knew what Avarice would do, and he was worried. He sighed and got off the bed and moved to Sakura's window and looked out. The sky was gray still, wind rustled the leaves on the gorund and moved the trees arms gently.

"Would having a Fighter realy make you be able to beat Avarice?" Syaoran said finally, after a long silence.

"Probably. But Kero-chan said that becoming a Fighter is painful, the part about getting imbued with five cards would be anyways. Very painful." Sakura said without emotion, staring at her hands enfolded in her lap.

"Sounds like our best bet." Syaoran said.

"But-" Sakura started, looking at Syaoran with eyes full of worry.

"What other options do we have? We've been utterly defeated twice and he hasn't used his full power yet, you can feel that too can't you?"

"Syaoran-Kun, at least think about it for a bit. You'd be in alot of pain, and the cards would be a part of you. And everything Avarice could do he would, and you'd have to be the one to take it all and to take him down!" She stood up and faced him, and took his hand. They stared into each others eyes for a long time, neither moving.

"I'll think about it." Syaoran said eventually. "Tomorrow I'll come over, I'll tell you what I decide."

But they both already knew what Syaoran would say. Sakura nodded anyways and let go of his hand.

"I should leave before Touya-"

"Yeah."

Syaoran and Sakura left her room, walked down the narrow stairs and into the main hall. Syaoran opened the door and faced Sakura one last time.

"Be careful." He said. Sakura nodded at him and smiled.

"Oh Syaoran!" She said before he got all the way out of the door. "Tomorrow we have no school, but as soon as we can, we're going to be taking our classes in the highschool classrooms."

Syaoran nodded and left, the imgae of her smile imprinted on his mind.


	3. The Fighter

Syaoran walked through the streets of Tomeda, on his way to Sakura's house. He wore an extra thick jacket but the cold still got to him. It was the coldest day of autumn so far, almost a record cold for this time of year, according to the radiostation he was listening to before leaving his house. It never got this cold in China. He wondered briefly what his family would think of him becoming Sakura's Fighter? Not only had he failed to capture the Clow Cards, he helped Sakura get them and turn them into Sakura Cards. And now he was going to commanded by her and fight for her. . .His rival, according to his family. He smiled at the thought. He didn't care what they thought right now though, all that mattered was Sakura, and stopping Avarice.

As he was lost in thought, a snowflake drifted into his view. He stopped. It was snowing? Sure enough, snowflakes were falling all around him, the air was quickly getting thicker with them. He didn't think it was that cold. He continued on his way, walking through the snowflakes. One landed on his cheek and he stopped again. The snowflake, once it touched him, transfered a strange feeling of happiness. The snow had emotion? That meant it was a spirit! Avarice might be behind it. As he thought that, the snow thickened tenfold. It was coming down hard now, and a sorrowful wind swept up and whipped it around and drove it sideways. The sadness of the wind and the glee of the snow mixed, causing a strange emotional sensation. Syaoran ignored it and quickened his pace. He had to get to Sakura as fast as possible.

He tripped over something and fell to the snow-covered sidewalk. Or at least he thought it was the sidewalk, the snow was falling so fast and thick it was a white-out and he couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of him. Getting to his feet, he pulled from his pocket a fulu of wind, and cast around him a little vortexing gale the blew the snow away. The snow around him was coming down so fast that there was a thick layer on the ground, and the wind was strong enough to push him around if it weren't for his own little wind shield. He closed his eyes and stood still, trying to sense where the source of this was. He could feel Avarice's aura, but it wasn't realy clear where it came from. It was as if it was all around him. Syaoran opened his eyes and started to walk foreward. His little protective wind bubble was weakening, and he let it go altogether. The wind was trying to blow him in the oposite direction he wanted to go, and he had to lean into it to stay moving foreward.

Eventually, the snow lessened and the wind suddenly dropped. He could see a lot better now, and the emotions of the elements vanished. It was just noraml snow and wind now, Avarice had stopped meddling. The snowstorm only lasted ten minutes or so, but enough had falled that there snowbanks up to Syaorans knees and he had to break a path through. After another few minutes the snow stopped entirely and the wind was nonexistant. The sky was the clearest blue it had been in days. The pale sun shone down on the snow, it was almost blindingly bright. Syaoran made it Sakura's house at last, and knocked on their pale wooden door. After a few seconds, Sakura's father Kinomoto Fujitaka opened the door.

"Li! You walked here in that sudden storm? That must have been cold! Come in and warm up." He stepped aside and closed the door after Syaoran.

"Thank you Mr. Kinomoto-san." Syaoran said, and fumbled with removing his boots. He felt quite numb and uncoordinated. Kinomoto Fujikata waited for him to remove his boots and jacket and escorted him to outside Sakura's room, which had the door closed. Though before Syaoran knocked, Sakura's father put a hand on his shoulder.

"I wanted to thank you for the other day." He said, smiling down at Syaoran.

"For what?" Syaoran was mildly confused.

"Sakura said that when the school was on fire, she got spereated from everyone else and you went back for her and helped her out. Thank you very much." Fujitaka then bent down and hugged Syaoran, who didn't know what to do. Mr. Kinomoto the let go and smiled one last time before going back downstairs. Sakura's door opened and she stuck her head out.

"You got here through the storm? Are you okay?" She asked and Syaoran nodded. She pulled him into her room and closed the door quickly. Inside, Syaoran saw Kerberos, the guardian beast of the seal. Of course, he wasn't in his true form and instead was in his false form, which looked like a little yellow-orange stuffed animal with wings. He nodded to Kero in respect, and he nodded back. They still didn't get along that well, but after all they been through they could tolerate each other more.

"So your gonna be Sakura's Fighter eh?" Kero asked, flying up to be eye-level wiht Syaoran.

"Yes." He replied with much more seriousness than any child should have. Kero nodded and flew over to Sakuras desk and sat down and motioned for them to do the same. They sat down side by side on Sakura's bed.

"Well, y'know that it'll be painful, and that Sakura wont be able to use the cards she empowers you with. Also, if she gives you an order while in 'Fighting Mode' and your either disobey or can't follow through for some reason, you'll feel varying degrees of pain. Though, if you get hurt Sakura can cast a spell that takes her energy and it'll heal you if you get wounded enough."

Sakura and Syaoran nodded. Kero continued after a moment of thinking.

"And the order that you get empowered by the cards is important too! like for example. . .If Fly was the first one, you'd probably get large wings and be able to fly fast and for long distances, and be able to turn faster y'know? But if it was the second one, the wings would be smaller and you wouldn't be as good. . .and if it was the last one, you'd probably only be able to fly for short distances and not with much accuracy!" Kero smiled at the thought and seemed to be thinking about something. He shook his head and continued.

"And certain cards have strange or realy unique abilites, like Shadow. I think, if Shadow was one of the first ones you get the abiltiy to move realy fast or instantly from one spot to another, like how shadows can. And then there are cards like glow and flower that would be pretty much useless in combat, unless you wanna make your enemies laugh to death!" Kero laughed and Sakura smiled a bit.

"While I'm her Fighter, can I use my own magic still?" Syaoran asked.

"Ya," Kero said, "an' your magic will be better while in 'Fighter Mode' which Sakura would put you in by activating the cards she used on you. And your sword will alsot get imbued with whatever you get. Like if she used Firey, your sword would burn what it hits an' stuff. Of course, how much your sword gets empowered would matter on the order of the cards as well."

"So my power would be all about the order and which cards to pick?" Syaoran asked.

"Ya."

"So. . .which cards do we use?" Sakura asked, "I wont care if I can't use the cards, Syaoran and I can jsut stick together and I wont worry about not being to use some."

"Well for starters Fly would be a got choice after some attack based cards, since Avarice would use your lack of flight against you if you couldn't fly. . ." Kero said. The three then spent the morning deciding what Syaoran would get empowered with. In the end, they decided that first would go Firey, since Avarice liked to use fire alot and having the Firey card as the first one would make him pretty much immune to the fire spirits. After Fiery would go Shadow, to make Syaoran harder to catch and to give him the ability to teleport short distances. Then in the middle would be fly, so he'd have decent movement and strong wings. After that would go Watery and Sword.

"Why Sword? I already know how to fight with my sword." Syaoran asked when Kero suggested the Sword Card.

"Having Sword Card in there would make it so that your sword could cut through anything, and give it more abilites. If you lose your sword somehow, wouldn't it be great if with the Shadows powers it would teleport back to your side when you wanted it to?" Kero had said.

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Kero darted into a pocket on Sakuras sweater. Syaoran randomly grabbed one of Sakura's school books from her desk and opened it right when they heard a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Sakuras elder brother Touya oepened it. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were a shade lighter than his hair, and he was tall. He wore a thick jacket and gloves, and a pair of large boots where in one hand.

"Hey monster, brat; Dad and I are going out to help with rebuilding the burnt parts of your school, and no you can't come. And he wanted me to tell Li that he could stay for dinner." Touya waited long enough for Syaoran to nod and say thank you, and Sakura to say goodbye before leaving. Kero poked his head out of Sakura's pocket.

"I hope Avarice dosen't mess with them at the school." He said and flew back to his spot on the desk.

"No, I don't think he would." Syaoran said.

"So when do we do this?" Sakura asked. Kero was silent.

"How about today? Before Touya and Fujitaka-san get back." Syaoran said and stood up. He walked to the window and look out at the snow that blanketted the front yard and street. People were out shoveling their walks and driveways.

"Ya, I guess the sooner the better. You still sure you want to this?" Kero siad and flew up to Syaorans shoulder and landed there. He then whispered, so only Syaoran could hear.

"If your bond isn't strong enough, you wont be able to beat Avarice y'know?" It wasn't a question.

"Don't worry," Syaoran replied at normal volume, "besdies, what does Sakura always say?" He turned to her and she smiled at him.

"Somehow, " she said, "everything will be all right."

Syaoran stood a few feet in front of Sakura in the Kinomoto's basement, where Fujitaka kept a large collection of books on many shelves. It was here that Sakura found the Book of Clow and accidentaly released the Cards, where it all began. They looked at each other, completely silent. Sakura was going over in her head what Kero-chan told her to say and do, and Syaoran was thinking only about Sakura.

"Sakura. . ." He started. She smiled. "I. . . This will turn out okay, we'll be strong enough, because. . ."

"Becuase?"

"I. . .lo-"

"Okay ready!" Came the deep voice of Kerberus in his true form. He was coming down the stairs, his paws making the floor creak. His wings were folded as tightly as possible, but he still brushed against stuff. His shoulder came to Sakuras elbow as he sat beside her, his large paws making dusty pawprints and his tail made odd swishing patterns on the floor. He looked magnificent and regal, sitting beside Sakura with an air of seriousness.

"Okay then." Syaoran said. He was annoyed to get interrupted, but he could tell her after. She smiled, and his worry and aprehaension about what they were going to do faded. She released the staff and held it high. Her star pattern covered the ground and when she pointed her staff at Syaoran, a seperate pattern that was mostly blank covered the floor around him.

"Oh Cards, aid us now! I will take this boy, Li Syaoran, as my Fighter! Help me empower him to protect me and drive away our enemies!"

The pattern Syaoran was standing on changed, in the center was Sakura's star. He fealt a tingling sensation across his body, and suddenly he couldn't move.

"Fiery! I Summon you and gift your powers to my Fighter! Make him strong and resistant to the flames of our hated enemy!"

Flames sprang up around Syaoran, the room got quite hot suddenly. They swirled around and encircled him and got closer and closer. The moment they touched him, he felt like was back in the schools burning gym. The flames licked at his body and he felt a strong pain. He stood his gorund and didn't move or make a sound. On the pattern he stood on, a border of flames decorated the outside of it. Sakura looked worried but Kerberus nudged her with his head and she kept going.

"Shadow! Grant my Fighter your abilited and powers to slip away from the enemy, to move away from their grasp!"

The cloaked form of Shadow apeared in front of him and moved to him slowly. It stopped and Syaoran raised his hand to touch the strange flowing of the fabric. The moment he touch it, Shadows cloack opened and disapeared, and Syaoran was engulfed by a black mass that neither Kero or Sakura could see through. Syaoran felt more pain, but he could stand it. The shadows moved away and another part of Syaorans pattern was decorated.

"This is the hard one Syaoran!" Kerberus said right before Sakura started the next Card.

"Fly! Give your wings to my Fighter, give him the freedom of flight!" She waved her staff to the side and watched Syoaran anxiously. The image of a bird flew foreward and hovered in front of Syaoran. He closed his eyes and the bird disapeared, and a single feather drifted towards him and touched his chest. Pain erupted from his body and he could barely stop himself from screaming. He fell to his kness. The pattern beneaht him now had large stylelized wings.

"Remember! Don't leave your spot!" Kerbuersu stood and shouted at Syaoran.

Syaoran trembled with the pain he felt, it was like his entire body was being pulled apart and burned. He could barely hear was Kerberus said, and he tried his best to stay in his spot and not scream. With a ripping noise, featherd wings sprang from his back and this time he couldn't stop himself from letting out a scream. He covered his mouth quickly with his hand and bit onto it. Sakura made a move lke she was going to run to him, but Kerberus stopped her.

"Keep going Sakura!"

"Watery!" She said, holding her eyes closed and her arms trembling a bit, "My Fighter needs your fluid motions! Make him as unpredicatble as the changing currents!"

A stream of water swirled around Syaoran, it the moved into him without warning and encricled him in a bubble of water. Sakura and Kerberus could see within the bubble, Syaoran shaking and trembling uncontrolably. The water fell to the floor and became lifeless. Syaoran was on his hands and knees, but he was able to slowly stand on his feet, but as shaky as before.

"Sword!" Sakura started. Syaoran pulled from his pocket a yellow tassle on a small rope and held it out in front of him. His sword, a jian, appeared and he held onto it tightly.

"Give my Fighters' sword the powers of Fiery, Watery, and Shadow! Lend it your keen sharpness!" She finished and released the Sword Card. Syaorans sword flashed but otherwise remained the same.

"This is the last part!" Kerberus told Syaoran. He nodded.

"Now my Fighter is complete! He will guard me with the powers of Fiery, Shadow, Fly, Watery, and Sword! Become your true Fighter form and be sealed, Li Syoaran!"

Syaoran fell to the ground again, in more pain thatn before. His wings, which were a blank white, now turned to a light brown with darker brown markings. His clothes were replaced by dark brown leather armor that covered his legs, chest, hands and feet. His stomach, arms and most of his back were bare, but a black liquid as unfathomable as the deepest shados covered his skin everywhere except his face. Red patterns apeared on his new leather armor, in the shapes of Sakuras star pattern.

And then it was all over, the ceremony was complete. The magical patterns on the floor faded, and Syaoran collapsed from the pain. Sakura fell down too, but Kerberus caught her. She was exhausted.

"I'm so sorry, Syaoran. . ." And she fainted.

Kerberus walked to Syaorans side. He put his head down and touched his nose to Syaorans forehead.

"You did well, I trust you to take care of Sakura, and I know your bond will be strong enough to beat Avarice." As Kerberus pulled away, a small star appeared on Syaorans forehead. The Guardian Beast then lay down beside Sakura and sighed. He wouldn't be able to move them so he might as well let them sleep.

Syaoran woke up. The first thing he noticed was he was no longer in pain. The second was that he was lying on the floor of the basement still. He sat up slowly. His body felt diferent, it felt so easy to move and his movements were so smooth. He looked down at himself and noticed the dark dark brown leather armor that he wore. It covered his chest, and some parts were thicker with strips of leather, and his gloves were like that too, with a second strip of leather on the back and around the wrist. His pants had extra strips on the outsides of his thighs and his knees and shins. Covering his arms and stomach was a thin layer of black fluid as black as ink, but it wasn't shiny. It looked like a void. He stood up, and he felt his wings move. This was different than when Sakura used the Fly Card and gained magical wings. Those wings didn't become a part of her, they weren't actual limbs of flesh and bone. But his were, and he had full control over them. He picked up his sword, which was on the ground, and he could feel the power coursing through it. It was a new sword now, complete with a never-dulling edge that could cut almost anything, and magical powers.

Syaoran looked up from himself and the sword, and say Kerberus laying on the floor. He walked over and Kerberus raised his head to look at him. Their eyes met, Guardain Beast and Sakura's Fighter staring into each other.

"How do you feel?" Kerberus finaly said, his deep rumbling voice sounding extra loud to Syaoran.

"Like. . .The strongest I've ever been." Syaoran said. Kerberus moved his wing and revealed Sakura lying on the floor too.

"Is she okay?" Syaoran dropped to his knees beside her, worried instantly.

"Yes, just tired. Once she's awake, she has to change you back to normal."

"I can't change back on my own?"

"No."

Sakura stirred, and opened her eyes slowly. She looked first at Kerberus and blinked, then over at Syaoran. She seemed to wake up instantly and she sat up.

"Oh Syaoran! Are you okay!" She asked with worry in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine. You look tired." Syaoran smiled a little bit at her.

"I am but I'll be fine!" She smiled at him and stood up. Once he stood beside her, she looked at his wings and reached out a hand. He didn't move, and felt her hand on his wing. It was an odd sensation, to have two extra limbs with feathers on them. Sakura moved her hand off his wing and touched his arm, the part covered in the black shadow liquid.

"It feels warm like you." She said.

"I hear a car in the driveway!" Kerberus said "Turn him back into his normal form now!" the moment he finished saying that, Kerberus turned back into his false form. Sakura nodded.

"My Fighter, return to your orignal form now!"

And in a flash of light, Syaoran's wings, armor and markings disapeared. He felt no pain with it, and they raced upstairs and into Sakuras room and tried to look like they were studying. The moment they closed the door to her room, they heard the door to outside unlock and open, and Touyas and Fujitakas muffled voices.

Syaoran was now Sakura's Fighter, and they had a chance to beat Avarice.


End file.
